The present invention relates to a system for handling real money in electronic commerce.
Recently, the electronic commerce through a network such as the Internet, etc. has become more and more popular in conducting transactions of merchandise and services. In the electronic commerce, a payment method is very important. For example, assume that merchandise is to be sold on a Web page of the Internet. In this case, as a payment method, a buyer can notify a seller of his or her credit card number. However, in this method, even an encrypted credit card number can be tapped. Another method is to make a payment in a bank, etc. before and after a buyer buys merchandise, etc. However, in this method, it is necessary to make a payment each time a buyer buys merchandise. Since a buyer has to perform a burdensome payment process, this method is not convenient.
In the above situation, there has been suggested method of conducting a transaction using electronic money, which can be processed through a network. In this method, a payment can be made by transferring the electronic money between a buyer and a seller. Thus, it is not necessary to use any real money in each transaction. However, it is necessary to buy electronic money using real money before conducting a transaction. Therefore, the above mentioned problem cannot be completely solved.
An example of the method will be described below. For example, a user first buys at a real shop a card which can pay a predetermined amount. When the user buys merchandise, etc. through a network, the user can make a payment for the merchandise by notifying the seller of his or her identification number described on the card. After buying the merchandise, the amount equivalent to the merchandise, etc. is subtracted from the total amount of money which can be paid by using the identification number. Thus, in this method, the identification number practically functions as electronic money or an electronic wallet. The card is a media for assigning the identification number to the user. Thus, although the identification number is tapped, the damages of the user can be limited to the predetermined amount. However, this method is not convenient because the user has to buy a card at a shop in advance.